|
Obama says he wants comprehensive climate and energy legislation, and he wants it this year President Obama yesterday rolled up his sleeves and waded into the increasingly fractious debate surrounding plans for a US climate bill, gathering key Democrat aRead more |
|
Search giant to target Apple and Microsoft with business apps store Microsoft's Office suite may have its work cut out following the release today of search giant Google's new business Apps Store....Read more |
|
Treasury committee urges government to include PFIs on the book when reporting "whole of government" accounts MPs are demanding the Treasury publish Public Sector Net Debt statistics - calculated according to International Financial Reporting Standards tRead more |
|
and most aren't aware of their on-line consumer rights A Business, Innovation and Skills Department survey has revealed almost two-thirds of consumers are less likely to return goods bought online than those they have purchased from the high street....Read more |
|
Public sector specialist hit nine per cent growth last year UK software and services outfit Civica enjoyed a growth spurt in 2009 after completing five acquisitions during the year. The firm, which was snapped up by private equity firm 3i...Read more |
Empire: Total War strategy game
The Total War series of games gives you the opportunity to rewrite a specificage of history and control great armies to conquer territory. Feudal Japan,
Medieval Europe and the Roman Empire have been covered by previous games, so
this time the setting is empire-building and sabre-rattling between world powers
in the eighteenth century.
Empire: Total War presents epic real-time strategy battles involving hundreds
of 3D soldiers in rank and formation. You can build armies from a mix of
gunpowder units, cavalry, artillery and melee troops. The character models are
beautifully detailed, with smooth animation, lighting and shadows. The sheer
number of 3D models displayed on the battlefield needs a powerful PC, but with a
Radeon HD4870 the game ran fine in maximum detail.
Another major part of Total War games is the micromanagement of your regions
via the main map screen. Here, the game plays more like Civilization, where you
take turns to manage trade, research, production and set taxes for each area you
control. Capital cities in each territory can be upgraded, which gives better
trade bonuses, allows recruitment of new units and helps to suppress the
population.
Trade is a major aspect of the game, and setting up trade links with friendly
nations is key to boosting your finances. Deals can be made via a diplomacy
screen, but you also have to produce merchant ships to occupy slots in the
game’s trade theatres, which are not directly controlled as the main regions
are. These will need defending later on with combat fleets, which can also be
used to steal from enemy trade routes.
The naval fighting is an entirely new concept in Empire: Total War, and
although Creative Assembly has provided a mini-game that fits the style of the
ground battles, it’s much less exciting. You steer the ships with the wind, line
up your guns and choose how to rain death on the enemy fleet. Without the same
variety as the ground battles, we ended up clicking the ‘autoresolve’ button to
avoid what we thought were dreadfully tedious sequences.
Ground battles can also be skipped, but we prefer not to, as they are one of
the best parts of the game. If Empire is your first Total War game, it’s best to
run through the tutorials to learn how to play. As before, if troops see their
general being cut down, or half of their buddies being torn apart by a cannon,
they’ll run away. If your entire army flees, (or routs) you lose the battle.
Many battlefield tactics that worked during the era also apply to Empire.
Charging your cavalry into the flanks of an enemy unit, leaving your musketeers
stationary and bombarding large wedges of troops with your cannon are all valid
tactics.
The real skill comes from working out how to best deploy your troops on the
battlefield. Each battle begins with a deployment phase, and if your cavalry is
badly positioned, or your cannons don’t have line of sight, you could end up
losing.
Empire is a game that requires more than a quick half-hour. Campaigns take a
long time, especially if you fight each battle manually. If you don’t turn off
enemy players’ moves, it takes forever for the next turn to begin while you
watch every unit move across the map, so this is something we recommend.
We found Empire: Total War to be a brilliant game, only let down by the
monotonous naval sequences. It’s without doubt the best of the Total War series,
even though it won’t appeal to everyone.
All Action & Adventure Games
Arts & Entertainment
Body Art, Design, Radio, Television, Comics
Business & Economy
Regional, Health Care, Retail Trade
Computers & Internet
Health & Sports
Services, Senses, Pharmacy, Publications, Senior Health, Occupational Health And Safety
Shopping
Publications, Recreation, Crafts, Jewelry, Health
Kids
Arts, News, Health, School Time, Games, Pre-School
|
Control your personal finances easily Having a program to review your personal finances is a good idea, especially in a recession. Despite the rather silly spelling of its name, Personal Accountz can be used to track bank accounts, loans, credit cards Read more |
|
A neat way to streamline and optimise an ageing PC We've all experienced the scenario before: a computer is getting a bit long in the tooth and becomes sluggish, less responsive and seemingly cluttered full of processes and applications that are far frRead more |
|
A powerful update to Corel’s veteran photo-editor Paintshop is Corel’s main, long-standing photo-editing software for home users. The company also has a new, cheaper Digital Studio (at £59) which provides basic tools for editing both photos and viRead more |

